- • ‘Committee operating in secret, refuse to brief lawmakers on activities’
The National Assembly yesterday frowned at the inability of the Presidential Steering Committee on the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiatives to account for the money allocated to it from the N500 billion meant for palliatives.
Speaking on behalf of the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe alleged that the presidential committee was carrying out its activities in secret.
He said: “We are aware that on October 1, 2023, the President made a promise to Nigerians to address the challenges of the common man by introducing palliatives to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the removal of subsidy.
“Mr. President also committed to building training workshops, providing CNG conversion kits to advance the natural gas revolution of the Federal Government.
“The joint committee observed with utter dismay the non-provision of those palliatives in the 2024 Appropriation Bill, which has been made available to the joint committee.
“The budget of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources is neither here nor there. It does not represent the policy direction of Mr. President on the decade of gas and usage of compressed natural gas as an alternative source of fuel.
“A capital budget of N5.8 billion for a ministry that is critical to achieving the natural gas revolution policy of the government and ameliorating the suffering imposed on Nigerians smacks of unseriousness.
“The Steering Committee on the Compressed Natural Gas Initiative has also refused to brief the National Assembly on the programmes they are carrying out.
“Their activities are shrouded in secrecy and the Ministers of State for Petroleum Resources as well as Oil and Gas are completely in the dark as to the activities of the Presidential Steering Committee on CNG initiatives.
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“In trying to get self-help, the Presidential CNG initiative has embarked on a fund raiser which comes up tomorrow in order to extort funds from so-called stakeholders.
“As a parliament, we do not align ourselves with running government programmes in disregard to the provisions of the law. We cannot achieve what Mr. President wants without providing for the CNG and other important projects in the Appropriation Acts. Doing so will only open a window of fraud, which will impact negatively on the citizens.
“Let it be on record that the Steering Committee of the PCNGI cannot account for the funds already provided for them from the N500 billion approved for palliatives for the purpose of CNG and advancement in the country…”
Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Al Hassan Ado Doguwa said: “We have less than N10 billion budget to consider. So, it is just the name that is big. Like people would say: big for nothing. If you have issues, you should make a proposal. But the real budget is what will come out of this institution.
“We want a Ministry of Petroleum Resources that will not only be robust but must be vibrant and proactive to be able to compete in the global market. A situation where you have other ministries budgeting over N40 billion is not good enough.”